Protective Papers

Today: Parker Molloy, author of The Present Age, a newsletter about the intersection of media, politics, and culture.

Issue No. 170

When Attack Ads Come for You
Parker Molloy

When Attack Ads Come for You

by Parker Molloy

Donald Trump’s obsession with anti-trans rhetoric has escalated during his reelection campaign, culminating in a new campaign ad built on raw malevolence. In the ad, grainy footage paints Kamala Harris as a villain for supporting medically necessary healthcare for prisoners and detainees—a right to which they’re entitled under the Eighth Amendment.

As Photoshopped images of Harris standing next to various trans people flash on the screen, a narrator sneers, “Kamala Harris is for they/them. President [sic] Trump is for you.” The ad weaponizes pronouns into a punchline (and a dangerously othering “they”) and reduces trans lives to a political prop.

It’s infuriating and dehumanizing. The urgency I feel as a trans person isn’t hypothetical—we’re in a race against a possible future where bureaucratic hurdles become insurmountable walls, and the identities and rights of every trans person might really be erased from the legal fabric of this country.

A few weeks back, I found myself sitting in the drab waiting room of the local Social Security Administration office—the kind of place where every minute stretches into an eternity. Muted beige walls were adorned with faded posters about retirement benefits and disability claims, and the air was thick with the scent of stale coffee and disinfectant. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting a harsh glare. I’d brought a folder containing all the necessary documents for updating my gender marker, something I thought I had fully resolved nearly a decade ago.